Velvet Road
by HaruNatsu
Summary: FINALE! What happen with Sakura and Oogami and the others then? Read and you'll find a big surprise...
1. At The Beggining

Disclaimers :   
I don't own Sakura Taisen

My other fanfic...please enjoy and R&r! Special thanks to everybody who have read my first fanfic, and certainly to Mark SYNTHESIS and Zauriel, who have encouraged me to write again with their reviews...

**Velvet Road**

  


*1953* 

"You want to do _what_?" asked Oogami to his twenty-four years old son, Taro.

"I've said to both of you, Dad and Mom, that I want to ask for the hand of Eddie," answered the young naval officer firmly.

  
"Eddie? You mean Edelweiss, right?"   
"Yes, Dad. I want to marry Edelweiss, my teammate, my youngest sister's best friend, my childhood neighbor, Aunt Maria's daughter."   
"Have you thought about it seriously?" asked Sakura.   
"I'm serious, Mom. I'm now twenty four, and Eddie is almost twenty three. We're mature enough, I think. Would you two please give your permission?" 

Oogami and Sakura gazed at each other mysteriously. "We must talk first, Taro," said Oogami distinctly, "would you please give us some privacy?"

Taro nodded, than stood up and walked out of Oogami's office.

Sakura took a deep breath and walked closer to the big window. "Our son is matured already," she said, almost sadly.

Oogami smiled and looked at his wife, as he remembered the time their son was born. "Life must go on," he said, calming the sad Sakura, "now, it's Taro's turn."

"You remembered his first steps that brought him to us? It feels like it had just happened." 

Oogami sealed Sakura with a warm kiss. "It's been twenty three years since that," he reminded.

"But, for me, he's still my little son, playing that colorfull ball with his father and his younger sisters, when I sewed his torn clothes," said Sakura softly, as she held her husband's shoulders and pressed her chest against his back.

"I know that this is a bit painful, since both of us love Taro very much," Oogami whispered, "but, we must let him get his own happiness by made his own family."

"He'll soon followed by Tanpopo. Then, by Suiren. And, after that, we'll be alone."

"We won't be alone," said Oogami, "they'll always be here...inside our hearts."

"Our heart," corrected Sakura, while she turned to Oogami and shared a passionate kiss with him, as their memory took them back to their twenties.

***

*1928* 

"Wha...what?" asked Sakura surprisedly. She walked closer to Yoneda's desk and took the letter which was on the table, before Yoneda could opened his mouth just to forbid her.

Sakura read the letter, then fell down to the floor on her knees. "Why...why?!!!" she started to cry bitterly.

"That is what your mother wrote, Sakura," said Yoneda clearly, " she really really wants you to go home and meet your soon-to-be husband."

"He's actually not my soon-to-be husband!" screamed Sakura, while her tears started falling down on her dress. "He's just a boy from somewhere in the earth, whom I don't even know! Yoneda-shihainin, please do anything...anything...just to change my mother's mind!"

"Don't be _selfish_, Sakura. Your family actually had arranged that since you were thirteen."

"But they didn't tell me about that!!!"

"You like or you don't like, you must go home on January ninth. Now, you can leave my office."

Sakura stood up and raised her head. Her eyes, full of anger, sadness, and lacked of hope, met Yoneda's eyes, which was filled with mysterious glance. "I hate you! Hate you!" screamed her, while she threw the letter to the floor and ran out of Yoneda's office, sobbing and weeping.

Yoneda smiled and took another letter from his pocket. "It's your turn, Oogami," he said victoriously.

He didn't realize that two women were inside the room beside his office, breathless and sweaty.

***

"What do you mean by 'Yoneda-shihainin gets mad-crazy', Maria?"

"I mean that he is actually getting mad and crazy," replied Maria. Her usually calm face turned pale and panic.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, Orihime," the shocked Maria answered, "he have just tortured Sakura, and he'll soon torture our Taichou."

"How do you know?"

"I was sitting inside the new meeting room, which is beside Yoneda-shihainin's office, talking with Kaede-san, when I heard Sakura screamed and cried, and after Sakura ran out of his room, he said that now is Taichou's turn."

"Bad news!" said Orihime, as she stood up, almost jumping, "let's tell the others!"

***

Meanwhile, Kaede was walking quickly down the street, reaching the nearest public phone.

She put in some coins, then pressed someone-we-know-well's personal number. "Hello?" answered a woman's voice.

"Hello, Sumire," replied Kaede, "listen to me. I don't have much time."

"Calm down, Kaede-san. Now, tell me what have happened."

"Yoneda-shihainin is getting crazy."

"What?! Have you got a psychiatrist?"

"We don't have any courage to do that, and, that is not the only problem."

"So, please tell me the other problems."

"I can't tell them in a place such as this. It will be Tokyo's biggest scandal if somebody had heard them. So, please visit us as soon as possible."

"I'll visit you immediately!"

_To be continued..._

Author's notes :

I don't know if my second fanfiction will be better or rather worse than my first...so I hope you'll give me some reviews. I promise, if you like this story, I'll soon send the next chapters, and you'll soon know all the threads that formed the velvet...


	2. True Friends

Disclaimers : I don't own Sakura Taisen...

This is the second chapter...hope you'll like it...please R & r!

***

*1953*

"Are you sure?" asked Edelweiss doubtfully, as she dropped her tennis racquet to the ground and missed the ball.

"Game! I win!" shouted Suiren victoriusly.

"Oh, you...!!! I have told you that you can't use this _wicked_ trick again!" shouted the half-angry Edelweiss. "I must have predicted this," she muttered hopelessly, " I have known Suiren since she was a newborn baby, and I've grown up together with her, but I have never thought that she will do this for the _second_ time." 

"Okay, Okay, Eddie, I'm sorry...but, believe me, that's really a truth...You can always trust me, right?"

"Are you sure that you're right?" asked Edelweiss. Her eyes, which were as green as her mother's, got narrow and narrower.

"I'm sure," said Suiren firmly. She walked out of the tennis court and put her racquet on the nearest bench to the court. "I heard Oniichan and Onechan talked seriously about that, just last night," she continued while weeping her sweatdrops.

"But...but...I have never thought that your brother is rather _serious_ with me," answered the blushing Edelweiss. She took her racquet, walked out of the court, and put that heavy thing beside Suiren's light racquet. 

Suiren stopped for a while. "I know that you can hardly believe this," she said, as she gave the towel to Edelweiss.

Edelweiss took the towel from Suiren's graceful hands, and began to weep the sweatdrops on her blushing face. "But...but...I thought that my date with Taro was just a little game for him," she whispered.

"Years haven't changed my brother," replied Suiren, as she looked deeply into Edelweiss' eyes. "He have never thought to play with a girl's heart ," she continued.

Edelweiss looked back at her best friend's brown eyes, then took a deep breath."Suiren...I must tell you that...when he was about to leave our hometown, fourteen years ago, he'd said to me that he'll be my man...but...I've never...never took it...seriously."

"Eddie, it's a _lie_ that you'd never took it seriously," replied Suiren, as she put her right hand on Edelweiss' left arm. "I know that you're always waiting for his letters when we were still living in Sendai. And, when we're already moved to Tokyo, joined Hanagumi, you seemed to give a big attention to him. And, once, I saw you cry badly in that hospital's room, after our messed up battle which injured him badly."

"But, it's so normal that I cried," said the shy Edelweiss, "I made that injuries for my Taichou...what a bad teammate..."

"You're not just cry but you're also blamed yourself. You said that you're silly, that you're heartless, and that you're cruel," Suiren stopped for a while. "And," she continued, "I also know for sure that you had never have a boyfriend or even liked a boy before Taro asked you to go with him on a date, about one year ago."

Edelweiss blushed again and again. "Yes," she said softly,"eventually, I must let you know that I _love_ your brother, Oogami Taro..."

***

*1928*

Words of mouth is more powerfull than any other medias in the world. In less than five minutes, everybody who were related closely with Yoneda, Sakura, and Oogami were assembled at the saloon. There were Maria, Kaede, Orihime, Reni, Iris, Kouran, Kanna, Sumire, and also Kayama.

"So...what's the main matter?"asked Sumire, still confusing and wondering what was happening.

"Maria will explain that," said Kaede, pointed at Maria.

"Then, tell us, Maria," urged Sumire curiously.

Maria took a deep breath. "Yoneda-shihainin called Sakura to his office," she said.

"And?" asked Sumire again.

"He said that Sakura's mother had done _something_ for her, and she must go back to Sendai whether she likes or dislikes," continued Maria. She took another deep breath. "That sounds like her mother had found her match, and she'll soon be engaged and married to a man she haven't ever known. She really didn't want it, you know. She asked Yoneda-shihainin to help her, but Yoneda-shihainin seemed to refuse and said some bitter things to her."

"No missunderstanding this time, right?" reminded Sumire, as she remembered the time the San-nin Musume were missunderstood about Sakura's plan to go back to Sendai, and told all of them that Sakura was going to be married (~Gouka Kenran's fifth episode's scene~).

"Certainly no," said Maria clearly, as she glanced at Kaede and saw that Kaede was nodding.

"It means that this time, we must _really_ rescue Sakura from an unhappy marriage," whispered Sumire.

"I haven't finished the story yet," Maria reminded. "Yoneda-shihainin also said that now is Taichou's turn."

"What turn?"

Maria shrugged. "Maybe to hear this news," she said softly.

***

Meanwhile, Oogami was standing inside Yoneda's office, exactly in front of Yoneda's desk.

"So," Yoneda said mysteriously, "actually, you're the only son of a rich family, and after your parents passed away, you decided to enter the Imperial Naval Academy, right?"

Oogami didn't answer at all. He looked at the letter on Yoneda's desk, as little remembrances took him back to his years with his parents.

"And, now, you've just passed your twenty-fifth birthday, and, according to your parents' letter, you now interhit all their wealth and properties," continued Yoneda.

Oogami kept silence, and he kept looking at the letter.

"Oh, and, shortly before the accident that took their lifes," Yoneda stopped for a while, " your parents had made an _excellent_ match for you."

Oogami raised his head quickly and looked at Yoneda with a miserable glance. "It can't be," said him, as he grabbed the letter and started to read it.

"That's what your relative has written," Yoneda reminded him, "you can take a look at the letter."

Oogami read the letter quickly, then torn it into pieces and throw the pieces into the wastepaper basket. "They can't urge me," he said, almost with anger.

"They'll pick you up by January tenth," Yoneda continued, as he ignored what Oogami had done with the letter and what Oogami had just said. "This time, you can't refuse at all, " he added.

***

"Sakura...Sakura...it's Maria...would you please open the door?"

Sakura wipped her flowing tears with her sleeves. "Come in, Maria," said her, trying to hide the great sorrow in her heart.

Maria came in and saw Sakura sitting on her bed, pressing a photograph tightly on her chest. She had stopped crying, honestly, urged herself to stop crying, but, Maria knew for sure that Sakura'd just cry. She had been standing in front of Sakura's door, at least for five minutes, before she decided to knock the door and asking Sakura if she was allowed to come in.

"You look pretty sad, Sakura," said Maria softly.

Sakura looked at Maria with her brown eyes, which were looked very sad. Those lovely eyes met Maria's green eyes, which were, not as usual, full of doubt and symphaty. Then, without saying anything, Sakura stood up and embraced Maria tightly, as she started to shed more tears.

Maria rubbed Sakura's back gently. "Ssh...Sakura," whispered her, "tell me what'd happened."

Sakura sobbed loud and louder. "They're trying to kill me with sorrow...," she muttered betwen her sobs.

"Who're them?" asked Maria patiently.

"My family and Yoneda-shihainin...they're really trying to kill me by separating me from my only love..."

Maria took a deep breath and started to talk. "They said that you must marry a man you have never known, right?" asked her.

Sakura didn't answer. Her body shook harder and harder, as her sobs get worse.

Maria pulled Sakura closer to her. "You're not alone," she whispered, " you have us. You have your best friends. We'll help you, no matter what it will cost..."

***

"So, you've had a fiancee, right?"

"Seems to be like that, Kayama," answered Oogami hopelessly.

"Then, I guess, that means you must end your love with Sakura," said Kayama with a heavy voice.

"I only want Sakura, this is what I want to say. I don't want any other girl, no matter how pretty she is," replied Oogami as he filled his glass with more liquor and started drinking again.

"Don't drink that much, man...You can't think clearly when you're drunk," warned Kayama, as he took the half-emptied liquor bottle and put it away from Oogami.

"Let me drink tonight," said Oogami without put his glass back on the table, "I've got a trouble."

"You need something better than liquor to solve your problem," replied Kayama, " you need friends. And, you've got friends in us. We'll help you to manage this mess."

***

It was midnight, and all the winter stars were shining brightly.

A young couple, seemed hasn't yet married, were standing together, face to face, at a luxurious building's balcony.

Each of them shed their tears in silence, when the man carresed her beloved's black, not exactly black but rather deep purple, hair.

The woman held her beloved's waist tighter and tighter, bursting her face onto his shirt, and let him touch the big ribbon on her hair.

Then, after a long, long time, the man broke the silence between them. "Our love will never die," he said softly, so softly, so no one could hear his voice but his beloved.

"Then, take me away," replied the woman, almost as softly as her beloved.

"I'll take you away, but, not tonight," said the man as he kissed his beloved's hair.

"Then, when? We have only three days," muttered the woman as she raised her head and looked deeply at her beloved's eyes.

"Don't worry," the man said as soft as he did before, "I promise you, I'll take you away from this hell."

***

Early in the morning, the next day, a group of people, who had just named theirselves as _Love Saviours_, were assembling at a cafetaria near to the Great Imperial Theatre.

"Let's make sure that all eleven of us are here, not less and not more than eleven," said one of the two men of the group, as he counted all the group's members. "Miss Fujieda, Miss Kanzaki, Miss Tachibana, Miss Ri, Miss Kirishima, Miss Soletta, Miss Milchstraß, Miss Chateaubriand, Miss Shinguji, Mr. Oogami, and myself, Mr. Kayama. Completed."

"So, we'll start explaining the plan we've just made last night," said one of the group's woman with her deep accentish voice.

"We disscused that all the night," said another woman, "and, when it's over, I realized that it's too late to go back to Kawasaki. So, last night, I slept at Maria's room, while Maria moved to Kaede-san's."

"All of you, listen carefully, especially Iris, Sakura, Oogami, and Kayama, since all of them were not present at last night's emergency meeting," said another woman, who was wearing military uniform, distinctly.

Four of them, known as Iris, Sakura, Oogami, and Kayama, nodded, while the woman with military uniform turned to the woman with deep accentish voice. "Go on, Maria," she said.

Maria looked at them, one by one, carefully. "As you all know," she said, " the day after tomorrow will be Sumire's birthday." She stopped for a while. "And, that day, our big assignment will start," she continued.

"Since that is my birthday, it won't be strange if I invite all of you to go for a picnic," continued Sumire. "But, it will be strange if I don't invite Yoneda-shihainin too," she added.

"So," Kaede took over, "only Hanagumi members will go on the picnic, since I have set an important meeting for myself and Yoneda-shihainin."

"We'll start early in the morning, with a big minibus I borrow from Kanzaki Heavy Industry, and go to a mountain near Tokyo," said Sumire. "Chu'ui will be the driver," continued her, as she pointed Oogami.

"This is the most important part of first day's activities," continued Maria, "we will act as if we were attacked by a group of mad robbers during the journey, that they had took the minibus, and kidnapped some of us who were trying to defeat them. Kayama will take the role as the 'mad robbers'."

"Who will be 'some of us'?" asked Iris impatiently.

"Kanna, Reni, Maria, Sakura, and Oogami," answered Kaede.

"Oh, I remember, we need Kouran and one other Hanagumi member to stay," added Sumire, "we need two people to inform Tokyo's situation and to tell the 'bad news' to Yoneda-shihainin."

"Then, the other one will be me," said Orihime quickly, "I had been thinking about the reason for Kouran's stay all the night...and it would be much better if we say that Kouran is sick, and I'm the one who will take care of her."

"OK. So, the first day's plan is complete," said Kaede, seemed to be very pleased.

"Remember," reminded Sumire," January eighth, six o' clock in the morning. Don't be late."

_To be continued..._

Author's notes :

A rather long chapter...please read and send your reviews, and I promise I'll soon send the third chapter...Let's see how the velvet gets long and longer...


	3. The Premiere

Disclaimers : I don't own Sakura Taisen...

The third chapter is finished already, and our velvet get long and longer, so, if you like this, please R&r...Thanks to Yoru no Angel, ArionWong, Zauriel, NaRiSa ReI, DragonFang, and Freelancer for their reviews...

***

*1953*

He had been standing in the end of the corridor, next to her room, for about thirty minutes, when, finally, his eyes caught her figure.

She was walking slowly along the corridor, thinking of what her best friend had just said, when she felt that somebody was touching her shoulder. She turned back quickly, and saw her boyfriend behind her.

"Nice morning, Eddie?" asked him to her.

"Well, quite nice, Taro," answered her, as she gave him a quick kiss on his right cheek.

He replied her by kissing her left cheek.

She smiled as shyness appeared on her lovely face.

"You want to know why I'll always want to kiss your left cheek before your right one, don't you?" asked him, as he placed his hands around her waist and prepared himself to lift her.

"Y...yes," answered her, as she felt like she's a princess.

He smiled and lifted her. "That's because," he said, " I think your left cheek is closer to your heart than the right one."

She blushed more and more as he lifted her higher and higher, then pulled her down suddenly and kissed her lips quickly.

She screamed softly, surprised , as he put her feet back on the floor and released her.

"Ta...Taro!" screamed her. She looked around, and felt relieved when she realized that there was nobody but him and her.

"Don't worry about them," he said, as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her lips deeply.

***

*1928*

Their rest two days passed quickly, and, finally, it was January eighth.

Maria, Kanna, Iris, Reni, Sakura, Oogami, and of course Sumire were ready to go on their 'picnic', when they heard someone's quick steps through the corridor. "What's up, Orihime?" asked Sumire worriedly.

"Kou...Kouran...Kouran...Kouran..."

"What happened with Kouran?" asked Maria, seemed to be so surprised.

"Kouran...Kouran is sick! Oh, everybody, I'm worrying if SARS (~whoops!~) had attacked her!" answered the frightened Orihime.

"Let me see," said Yoneda, who'd just entered the theatre's Main Hall with Kaede behind him.

Everybody, including Yoneda, Kaede, Oogami, Sakura, Sumire, Maria, Reni, Iris, and Orihime, headed straightly for Kouran's bedroom, rushed and panic, while thinking about Kouran's health.

They saw Kouran inside her bedroom, lying on her bed, breathing with loud scary sounds, and sometimes coughing badly.

Kaede walked closer to Kouran's bed and kneeled down beside the bed, as she touched Kouran's forehead with her right palm. "She's got a fever," said her to everybody.

"Then we must cancel our plan," Sumire decided. "However, Kouran's health is much more important than just a birthday picnic," she continued seriously.

"Do...don't worry about me...," muttered the suffering Kouran, "you can leave me...I've just got an ordinary flu. There's nothing to worry about."

"But...," interrupted Sumire, seemed not pleased with Kouran's words.

"You'll go," said Kouran, weakly but firmly.

Everybody remained silent for a while. "Well," Sumire said hopelessly, "that's your own will. Let's go."

"I'll stay to take care of Kouran," Orihime decided quickly.

This time, Kouran seemed asleep, so, she didn't say a protest or something similar with that. "Then Orihime stays with Kouran and the others go," said Yoneda, as he turned back and let the others, except Orihime and the sick Kouran, followed him and said goodbye to Kouran and Orihime.

Kaede was the last to leave the room. Before she closed the door, she smiled slightly to the smiling Orihime and the half-laughing Kouran, who was hiding herself under her blanket so nobody could heard her laughter.

Both of the girls, the Chinese and the half-Italian, shared a small handshake, shortly after they heard the sound of the minibus, going on the picnic, and the car, took Yoneda and Kaede to the meeting, leaving the Imperial Great Theatre.

Kouran took two small things looked like portable handsfrees (~whoops!~), wore one of them, and gave the other to Orihime. "This is our equipments," she said to Orihime, " I gave each of the rest of the _Love Saviours_ one."

***

"So this is the place, Sumire?" asked Maria, as she observed each angle of that area carefully.

"Yeah," answered Sumire. Pleasant thoughts started to fill her relieved mind. "We're so lucky that nobody knows that we're acting all the times," she continued, as the others, one by one, got out of the bus and looked around with amazed glances.

"So, all of you are here, ladies and gentleman," said a familiar voice.

Everybody turned around and saw Kayama, wearing an old dirty black pair of pants and sweater, with black sunglasses on his face. "Battle is ready," continued Kayama.

"All of us are ready for battle," Oogami replied slowly.

"So, let's start the battle!" said Kayama, full of spirit.

Sumire and Iris got back into the minibus quickly, while Kayama and Oogami messed a part of the deserted grassland up. The rest of Hanagumi spread a mixture of honey and tincture of iodine, the special trick they had learned from the _Benitokage_ make up artists, on the messed up areas. According to what their 'teachers' had said before, it will _successfully_ recognized as _blood_.

When Sumire and Iris went out together from the minibus, wearing something like rags ( or rather brand new costumes ), the grassland had turned into a slaughterground. "Here you two!" called Sakura quickly, as she prepared the _make up kit_ for our _supporting actresses_ for this time, Sumire and Iris.

Less than five minutes later, everything, including the actors and actresses, the properties, and the stage for the _play_ were ready. Our directress, Maria Tachibana, who was taking the role as the supporting actress too, examined all the prepared things, and nodded with a great pleasure.

"Remember, this is a _play_. No mistakes will be allowed," said Maria to all the actresses and the actors. "Especially our main actress and main actor, Ms. Shinguji and Mr. Oogami," added her as she gazed at Sakura and Oogami.

Everybody nodded. "So," Maria explained, " the previous scene is 'the robbers' attack'. So, the next one will be 'after the attack'. Sumire and Iris will go to the nearest village, to ask for some help, and say that they've just being robbed."

Sumire and Iris nodded.

"Taichou , Sakura, Kanna, Reni, Kayama and I will go with the minibus," continued Maria, "all clear?"

Everybody, including Maria herself, nodded. "Then," said Maria, as her spirit began to raise, "let's begin the _play_!".

Our main actor and actress, our directress, our supporting actor, and two of the supporting actresses got into the minibus and left the grassland immediately.

As soon as the minibus vanished from their eyesights, Sumire and Iris gazed at each other, smiled, then ran to the nearest village, as they spread a little 'blood' on their way.

***

"Excuse me, but is Yoneda-shihainin from Teigeki here?"

"Yes, I am," answered Yoneda.

"Bad news, Yoneda-shihainin. One of your girls, Iris Chateaubriand, and Kanzaki family's daughter, Kanzaki Sumire, were found at a mountain village, injured and seem to be robbed." 

"W...WHAT?!!!"

***

Sumire and Iris were sent immediately to the nearest clinic, where the doctors found some bruises on their legs and cuts on their hands. After a few examinations, the doctors said that both of them were all right, and they were allowed to leave the hospital.

Kaede picked both of them up, while Yoneda stayed in the theatre, waiting for some informations from the others. Kouran and Orihime, whom the shocked Sumire first contacted, told him about what was happening.

"And...and...and Sumire said, the rest of them were kidnapped by the robbers," said Orihime. Kouran, whose flu seemed to get better, nodded. "They also took the minibus and Sumire's and Iris' jewelry and other belongings, except their clothing and Jean-Paul," added Kouran.

Yoneda shook his head and took a deep breath. "What a mess...," he muttered.

_To be continued..._

Author's notes :

I'm rather doubt if this chapter is good enough...but, I hope you'll really enjoy and review this chapter, so I'll know that you still want me to continue this fanfiction...


	4. First Scene

Disclaimers : I don't own Sakura Taisen...

Fourth chapter...hope you'll keep enjoying and reviewing my work...Sorry for making you wait so long...Special thanks to Zauriel, shiny moon, Nanami Da Tomboy, NaRiSa ReI, and Lyss-Blyss for their reviews...( Zauriel, thanks for your attention to me. I'm alright...just very busy recently ).

***

*1953*

He released her, then gazed into her eyes.

She gazed back into his eyes, and found what she'd been looking for all her whole life.

It was love. His love for her.

"You know," he said, as he took her left hand and kissed her ringfinger, " I've just asked my parents if I can ask for your delicate hands in a marriage."

Edelweiss' mouth opened suddenly. "W...what have they said?" asked her curiously.

"They said that they must talk about it first, and, I haven't known the result yet. But, don't worry. With or without their permission, I'll marry you," answered Taro.

"Taro! It's not good," reminded Edelweiss, as she pressed her index finger on his lips.

"Yes...yes...I'm just kidding...However, I'm still respecting my parents," he answered with laughter.

Oogami Ichirou, Shinguji Sakura, and Maria Tachibana were looking curiously at the young couple, who were still staying in their own world, ignoring all the things around them.

"Permission given," said Oogami, calmly, as he walked closer to Taro and Edelweiss.

Taro and Edelweiss startled, than jumped back to make a short distance between them, badly blushing.

"We've been talking about that with Edelweiss' mother," Sakura added, " and she gave her permission too. Right, Maria?"

Maria nodded, as she smiled in joy.

***

*1928*

January ninth passed without any news about Kanna, Maria, Reni, Oogami, or Sakura.

The Shinguji family were waiting patiently and anxiously for some informations about their daughter. Patiently, as usual, and anxiously, as they realized that they were in big trouble with the boy's family.

"_His_ family promised to come this evening," said Katsura to Wakana, almost whispering.

Wakana nodded slightly as she tried to hide her feelings from the older woman. "Let's pray for _their_ sake," she replied softly.

"Our poor Sakura...she's maybe miles away from her _happiness_...," said Katsura sadly.

***

Oogami's relative was in a big trouble too.

The rather young woman walked-back-and-forth across her large house's hall, trying to calm herself, while she was waiting for the news about where her brother, Ichirou, was, and thinking about the way to tell the girl's family. However, they must delayed the engagement.

"Ichirou...," she muttered, " my poor brother...He's miles away from his _happy marriage_..."

***

A very _usual_ minibus stopped quietly at a lakeside. The doors opened slowly, then, all of the passengers got out carefully but quickly.

"Where're the _properties_?" whispered one of them.

"I keep them inside this bag, Maria," answered another passenger, pointing at the huge bag beside her right leg.

"Good, Reni," Maria replied as she tried to keep her voice low.

"The minibus is messed up enough," said one of the men.

Maria smiled. "Good," she whispered again, "we can leave now. Be quick, but be careful."

***

"Yoneda-shihainin!"

Yoneda rose up from his chair suddenly. "What are you doing, Kaede? Don't surprise me like that!"

Kaede ignored Yoneda's pardon. "They...they...they had found the minibus!" cried her loudly.

Yoneda ran towards the door and opened it with one powerfull movement that may frighten little children. "Where are all of them now?!!!" asked him as he held Kaede's arms firmly and shook the younger woman's body.

"Calm down, calm down, Yoneda-shihainin. Let me explain first. The minibus was empty..."

"Empty? Empty?! Empty?!!! So, where are them?"

"Take a breath, Yoneda-shihainin...we don't know where they are, but..."

"But what?"

"They found torn pieces of Kanna's jacket..."

"Torn?!!!"

"Y...Yeah, oh, sorry, I meant, yes. Maria's coat was found as well, soaked up by mud."

"And?"

"There's nothing more to say. They have no more facts or just predicitons to tell us."

"Where's that minibus now?"

"The policemen borrowed it for further investigations. And, I'm sorry, Yoneda-shihainin, but, please stop shaking me! I feel dizzy and queasy!"

***

"Are you tired, Sakura?" asked Oogami worriedly.

Sakura smiled at her beloved. "No," answered her.

Maria smiled as she heard the short conversation between the two lovers. "Well," she said as she stopped walking, "night has come. This is our time to sleep."

"Are you sure that we will sleep here tonight?" asked Kanna, as she pulled herself closer to Maria.

"One hundred percent sure," answered Maria, ignoring Kanna's fear.

"B...b...but...this is a forest, Maria! How if snakes are surrounding us?" asked Kanna again. Cold sweatdrops started to appear on her frightened face.

Maria turned to Kanna. Her green eyes got narrow and narrower. "Then," she said with a serious tone, "I'll ask you to fight them and the rest of us can escape."

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" shouted Kanna, when the others, including Maria, laughed cheerfully.

***

A pleasant sound heard as they do the toast.

"This champagne is rather good, right?" asked Kaede as she put her empty glass on the table.

"Yeah!" answered the other girls. They giggled and gazed at each other.

"It is Iris' first experience with champagne!" cried the exicted Iris. 

"Ssh...Iris...this is a secret," whispered Orihime, "don't tell the others that we give you champagne, will you? You're only fifteen."

"Yup!" replied Iris, "Iris will tell nobody that Kaede, Kouran, Sumire, and Orihime give her a glass of champagne!"

"But you tell me!" said Orihime with a low voice.

"Oops...sorry...," Iris closed her mouth with her hands, "Iris promises, she wouldn't tell anybody that Kaede, Kouran, Sumire, and Orihime give her champagne."

"You tell me again!" muttered Orihime, almost hopelessly. "Well, " she said, "we mustn't have given..."

"They contact us! They contact us!" cried Kouran suddenly.

_"This is Jean Valjean. Can you manage Teito?"_

_"This is Javert,"_ answered Kouran, _"Teito is OK. We still can take care of The Real Bad Guy and His Comrades. How about The Shipman, Marius, Monsieur Thenardier, Our Director, and Madame Thenardier?"_

_"They're all right. How about The Fairy, Cossette, Fantine, and Our Public Relations?"_

_"They're doing well too. Now, tell us about your journey."_

_"Quite exhausting,"_ answered 'Jean Valjean', _"we're surrounded by green now. I can't tell you more. There's something more important to tell."_

_"What's that?"_

_"Marius is doing enough. We'll kick her off soon. Make sure that this scene will be exicting enough for The Real Bad Guy."_

_To Be Continued..._

Author's Notes :

It was quite uneasy for me to create their code-names, so, I used their roles in _Les Miserables_ as their code-names. Special for Oogami, Kaede, Kayama, and Yoneda, since they had no roles in _Les Miserables_, I create the code-names by my ownself.

Oogami - Our Director

Kaede - Our Public Relations

Kayama - The Shipman

Yoneda - The Real Bad Guy

What will they do to _Marius_ a.k.a Reni? Will _The Real Bad Guy_ become excited? Let's see...Please send your reviews...


	5. Second Impact

Disclaimers : I don't own Sakura Taisen...

Minna-san...This is the newest chapter! I'm glad to see our velvet getting longer and longer...Thanks for all your reviews ( especially for Zauriel and DaIfUkU )!

***

*1953*

"What?!!!" cried other Hanagumi women in unison.

Sakura laughed and gazed at the smiling Maria. "I've told you clearly that Taro will marry Edelweiss," she said without any doubts.

"You're not kidding, right?" asked the wondering Sumire.

"I'm serious, Sumire. My son will marry Maria's daughter," answered Sakura.

"Has your husband known it, Sakura?" asked Reni.

Sakura nodded. "He was the one who gave Taro the permission to propose Edelweiss," she added.

Iris stood up and took a bottle of champagne. "Let's celebrate it!" cried her.

The crystall glasses were filled, and, soon, the cheerful word : "Kanpai!" was heard.

***

*1928*

"We'll leave you here, Reni. Take care," said Maria to the silver-haired.

Reni nodded. "See you at Tokyo," replied her.

"See you too," muttered Maria, as she turned back and began to walk, leaving the tree where Reni was tied up on.

***

"Yoneda-shihainin!"

Yoneda woke up and rose up suddenly. "What's up, Kaede?" asked him sleepily.

"They found Reni! They found Reni!"

"That's quite good...wait...they found Reni? Found Reni?! FOUND RENI?!!!"

"Yes...The Robbers tied her up on an orange tree...poor girl...she's got broken ribs..."

***

Reni was found in a small village in the northern part of Japan, half-fainted, with _injuries_ all over her body. She cried when Yoneda, accompanied by Kaede and some policemen, picked her up. They took her to Tokyo immediately.

"Ssh...Reni...don't cry. It's over now," said Kaede as she gently rubbed Reni's cheeks.

"They were so cruel...they beat us nearly everyday...and...when they knew I couldn't bear anymore, they left me there...That tree was full of red ants...Kaede...that's terrible," said Reni as she shed more tears.

"And the others?" asked Yoneda impatiently.

"The robbers took me from them," answered Reni, as great sorrow began to appear on her face.

"And?"

"That mad robbers said that I will never see them again...I'm so...so...so...te...te..terri...fied."

Reni was completely fainted.

***

"Sh...Sh...Shinguji Wakana-san?" said Orihime surprisedly.

Wakana stood in front of Teigeki's main door, holding her suitcase. "Sorry for not telling all of you that I'm going to come," she apologized.

"C...come in, Shinguji-Okusan," said Orihime as she pulled herself aside to let Wakana to enter the theatre.

Wakana entered the theatre and gazed over all things. "Everything is quite messy," she said without changing her expression.

"Yes...you know, we had almost no time for cleaning, since we used all our time to search for and find Sakura and the others," replied the blushing Orihime. However, she felt a bit ashamed.

"Where is Yoneda-san?" asked Wakana, ignoring what Orihime had just said.

"He is accompanying Reni to the hospital...have you heard that they found her this morning?"

Wakana nodded. "Yoneda-san told me," she said.

"So...what's your plan here?" asked Orihime.

"I'll stay here so I can help all of you to find Sakura and the others," answered Wakana clearly.

"Th...Thanks for your help..."

***

"Then we get into trouble," said Kouran.

"I never predicted this," replied Orihime hopelessly. 

"Sakura's mother presence will make our work _a bit_ more difficult," commented Sumire.

Kaede shook her head. "Not just _a bit_ more difficult, but _much_ more dangerous," she said.

"She may mess it up," added iris, agreed with Kaede.

"Watch your movements," reminded Kaede, "there are bombs everywhere."

"I'll warn Maria about this," Kouran said as she reached her communication tool.

"Tell her not to tell Sakura or Oogami," warned Kaede.

"But, why?" asked the surprised Kouran.

"You may not understand the reason, but, I tell you, it will be much more difficult for them if they knew that Sakura's mother was looking for them."

***

Wakana spent almost all her whole days with Kaede, Kouran, Sumire, Orihime, Iris, and also the _recovering_ Reni, without knowing that they wanted her to go back to Sendai soon.

Kouran had told Maria about Wakana's presence and warned her not to tell Oogami or Sakura, but, our blonde Russian decided to tell only Kayama, because she knew that Kanna might spoil it up.

January had passed, and it was February. After thinking for a long time, Maria made an important decision.

"We must change the plot," said her to Kayama.

"Why?" asked Kayama, almost whispering.

"It will be dangerous if all five of us keep going north," she answered.

"So, what will you do?"

Maria looked at her sleeping friends. "I'll keep going north with Kanna," she answered.

"And me?"

"Listen carefully. You'll go with Taichou and Sakura to the nearest harbor. Then, all of you will take just a _small_ boat. Go to Okinawa, but not directly. Stop twice, once at Simonoseki and once at Kagoshima. Change your boat at every stops. Remember, whatever will be, don't sleep in inns. You'd better sleep in forests."

"But...many people will recognize Sakura if we appear at harbors. This can be dangerous."

Maria smiled and took a look at the big bag. "We still have enough properties. You can do some _perfect_ disguise."

"What kind of disguise will that be?" asked Kayama curiously.

Maria took the bag. "Here are some wigs," she said, as her smile got wider, " and all of them were as blonde as my own hair."

_To Be Continued..._

Author's Notes :

Well...I've written five chapters...Special thanks for everybody who have read "Velvet Road" and Very Special thanks for every reviews you've sent...Keep reviewing, so I can keep my work up. I promise, I'll soon finish the following chapters.


	6. Third Wave

Disclaimers : I don't own Sakura Taisen...

The sixth chapter...Please enjoy, read, and review! Special thanks to Stelok, Aloysia-Sakura-fan, and KoKoRo SaBiShIi for their reviews...

* * *

1953

"Am I look strange?" asked Edelweiss as she looked at the mirror carefully, examining her appearance in that wedding gown.

"A bit," answered Suiren, "you look thinner and that's not good since you're tall."

Edelweiss took a deep breath. "This is the tenth gown for today," she said, almost gave up.

"Don't give up! There are still many shops and boutiques left!" said Suiren, inspiring her best friend.

Sakura gazed at Maria and smiled amusedly. "Suiren is right," she said, "we still have plenty of time to visit another shops and boutiques before they come to pick us up."

"Y...yes," answered the extremely tired Edelweiss.

* * *

1928

It was February tenth, 1928.

Since it was only half past four in the morning, the harbor was still quiet. No one was seen there, except the ticket seller and three blonde foreigners.

"Three tickets for Simonoseki, please," said one of the foreigners.

"Pardon?" asked the ticket seller.

"Three tickets for Simonoseki," repeated another foreigner.

"Oh! Sorry," said the ticket seller, as he took three tickets for Simonoseki and gave them to the foreigners. "Your accent was a bit strange, so I couldn't understand what you'd said," he added.

"We came from France," answered the third foreigner, the only woman in the whole group of three.

"Sou desu ka..._bon voyage_, then," replied the ticket seller, as he looked at the clock and realized that it was the departure time of the boat to Simonoseki.

* * *

"Let's go to the nearest town and find something to eat, Maria...I'm hungry..."

The blonde stopped and looked at her best friend with a great annoyance."Kanna! We must be quick! We must reach Aomori by February twentieth," she said, half-whispering.

"But, it's still February fifteenth...we still have five more days to walk..."

Maria gazed into Kanna's eyes with her green eyes, which seemed to be colder than usual. "You realize where are we now, Kanna?" asked her.

Kanna shook her head.

"Listen, Kanna. The nearest town, no, city, from here is Sendai. You don't want to be recognized, do you?"

"Of course no!" cried Kanna.

"Then, let's continue walking," said Maria as she started to walk again.

* * *

_"Raise our daughter well..."_

She shivered as she heard that sentence. Her closed eyes opened, first slightly, than got wider and wider.

Her husband was standing exactly in front of her, under a blossoming cherry tree.

"K...Kazuma?" asked her, almost couldn't believed who she'd just seen.

He didn't greet her back, or even smiled to her. "Where is Sakura?" he asked with a harsh voice.

She startled and jumped back, as she started to feel guilty. "She...she...she..."

"...is missing. Right?"

"L...let...let...me...explain..."

"You have _nothing_ to explain, since my daughter is _dead_."

"Dead?"

"Follow me," said him as he turned back and walked away.

She followed him, and, finally, they stopped in front of a coffin covered with white cloth.

"Look who's inside," said him.

She pulled the cloth and screamed.

It was her daughter. Her only daughter.

"See?" he asked her coldly. "Sakura is _dead_. You killed her, Wakana. You _did_ kill Sakura."

Everything got dark, and, suddenly, she found herself sitting on a bed, with drops of sweat and tears on her face.

"Did I kill _her_?" asked her to herself.

* * *

Both of them shivered as they stopped in front of the cemetary's gate.

"Are you sure that this is the place?" asked Kanna with a low frightened voice.

"I'm sorry to say this, Kanna, but, this is the place," answered Maria with a very low voice, lower than Kanna's.

Kanna's purple eyes got wider and wider in a great terror. "W...Will you accompany me, Maria?" asked her.

Maria gave Kanna a meaningfull gaze. "Well, friend," she answered, "I'm so sorry, but, I must go immediately. I must catch the ferry to Hakodate."

"B...but..."

Maria pushed Kanna through the opened gate. "Good luck!" said her, as she turned back and walked quickly, immediately left the cemetary.

"Hey! Maria! Maria!"

"I'll see you later in Tokyo!"

* * *

"Yoneda-shihainin!"

Yoneda stood up and walked quickly towards his door. "What's up, Kaede?" asked him.

"They...they...they found Kanna!"

"They found Kanna? Was she with the others?"

"Sorry, but, she was found alone."

"Where, Kaede?"

"In...in...in..."

"In what?"

"In a cemetary near Aomori!"

* * *

Kanna was totally fainted when she was found. She had not awaken yet when Yoneda and Kaede arrived at Aomori. They brought her back to Tokyo soon.

Yoneda was too tired, so, it was Kaede's duty to accompany Kanna to Tokyo General Hospital. She came back without the red-haired. "Kanna needs further medications," she reported, "she's got too many injuries, and some of them are getting infected."

Yoneda drank more liquor. "You can go," he said to Kaede.

* * *

Sakura took a deep breath as she stood up and gazed at the stars from the window of her cabin.

Since she was the only woman of the group, she'd got no roommate, and she was all alone.

"Am I wrong?" she questioned herself.

No one answered.

"See, Sakura? Even yourself don't know the answer," she said confusedly.

She walked back to her bed and laid down there. "But," she said again, "my love for him is a true love...and, I know...true love will never end..."

Her lips formed an innocent smile as she fell asleep.

_To Be Continued..._

Author's Notes :

I don't think if this chapter is good enough...But, please read it and give me some reviews...The next chapters will follow soon...


	7. Fourth Shoot

Disclaimers : I don't own Sakura Taisen...

The seventh chapter...Please enjoy and R&r...Thanks for reading the previous chapters, and special thanks to Stelok and shiny moon for their reviews...

* * *

1953

"Who else should we invite?" asked Sakura to Maria.

"I think there're more than enough guests to make the party lively," answered Maria as she read the long-scrolled paper in her hands.

"Have we put the French _Chattes Noires_ in the list?"

Maria checked the long list. "Erica, Glycine, Coquellicot, Lobelia, Hanabi, Mel, Ci, and Grandmere are all here," she answered.

"Good. How about Ratchet Altair, our American teammate?"

"Her name is here too," answered Maria.

"I hope this party will be unforgetable," said Sakura hopefully.

"I'm sure nobody will forget it," replied Maria surely.

* * *

1928

Maria sneezed again and again as she walked down the empty street. She crossed her free arms to warm herself.

"I must reach that inn," she said to herself, "before dawn breaks."

It was still completely dark when Maria, after struggling hardly with the cold and the wind, finally reached the yard of the small inn. She walked quietly but rather quickly to the terrace, laid down there, and acted like she was sleeping.

She's been spying the inn for almost two weeks, and, she was sure, it was the best place to end _her_ journey. She knew, she would soon back to Tokyo and reunited with her troupe. Not her whole troupe, off course. Two of her teammates wouldn't be there.

She shivered when she felt the cold floor under her body. However, her _thin sackdress_ couldn't wrapped herself perfectly.

She laid there for about almost two hours, until, finally, somebody opened the door in front of her.

Then, she heard a soft scream, followed by these words : Miss Maria Tachibana from Teigeki.

Her heart smiled. She knew, she was successfull.

* * *

"Yoneda-shihainin!"

"What's up, Kaede?" asked Yoneda as he opened his eyes and realized that he had fallen asleep while drinking.

"De...demo...I'm not Kaede-san," answered Kouran.

"Kouran! So, what's up?"

"They've found Maria!"

"Where?!!!"

"She was found lying on an inn's terrace, at Wakkanai, Hokkaido!"

"Well, I must go there then! Wake Kaede up and tell her to prepare!"

"Sorry, Yoneda-shihainin...but, Kaede-san is on her way there."

"Why didn't she woke me up?!!!"

"She knocked your door but you didn't answer, so, she went there by herself!"

* * *

Kaede returned from Wakkanai two days later. She brought Maria with her.

Maria's injuries wasn't as bad as Reni's and Kanna's, so, they went directly to the Imperial Great Theatre, without any stops at one of the hospitals. However, Wakkanai was so far from Tokyo and they had to spent a lot of their time on the road.

"What do you mean by wearing that _sexy_ thing, Maria? Where are your clothes?" asked Yoneda when Maria entered his office.

Tears began to appear on Maria's marvelous green eyes. "They urged me to change my clothes with this," answered her.

"But, why?"

"They said that they were getting tired with _our_ torn clothes," answered Maria, as she cried more tears.

"So...they did it to Sakura and Oogami too?"asked Yoneda again.

"Only to Sakura. They didn't change Taichou's clothes."

"Do you know where Sakura and Oogami are now?"

Maria cleaned the teardrops from her cheek. "They're maybe somewhere outside Japan," she answered.

"Outside Japan? How come?"

"The robbers brought them out of Japan," answered the blonde Russian.

"What for?"

Maria started to cry again. "They're going to sell Taichou and Sakura," answered her.

"I'm getting confused, Maria. Please sit down and tell me the _whole_ story."

Two teardrops soaked Maria's cheeks as she sat down and closed her eyes. "They took Taichou, Sakura, and me to Hokkaido," said her with a heavy voice, " and told us that they'll sell us somewhere outside Japan."

"Continue," requested Yoneda.

"But, one of them recognized me as a foreigner," continued Maria in order to fullfill Yoneda's request, "and they decided to leave me there. They urged me to smell _something_, and I felt so sleepy...I fell asleep and, when I woke up, I realized that I was inside Kaede's car."

Yoneda shook his head hopelessly. "You can rest now, Maria," he said, "thank you for your information."

* * *

_"You killed her, Wakana. You did kill Sakura."_

She shivered as she remembered this words. Her tears started to fall down, as she embraced that photograph tightly.

"Where are you, Sakura?" asked her.

* * *

They broke apart suddenly.

"What's wrong, Sakura?" asked the worried Oogami.

"No...nothing, Ichirou," answered Sakura quickly.

"Then...why?"

"Don't get me wrong!" cried Sakura, "I didn't mean to refuse your kiss! I'm just feeling guilty!"

"Ssh...Sakura, that's OK. I understand that you feel guilty to your family."

"I...I'm sorry, Ichirou," said Sakura slowly. Teardrops started falling down from her eyes.

"You don't have to apologize, Sakura. I'll always support you, I promise..."

Sakura didn't say anything. She buried her face against Ichirou's chest. _"What's wrong with me?!!!"_ she questioned herself,_ "I've said to myself that I'm no longer a member of that family!!!"_

* * *

"Kouran! Kouran!"

"What's up, Iris?" moaned the disturbed Kouran.

"Hey, wake up! Don't sleep! Iris has an important news to tell!" cried the dissapointed Iris.

"Then tell me," Kouran muttered.

"Oniichan's relative has finally come! She'll stay here until we can _find_ Oniichan! She is talking with Yoneda-shihainin!"

Kouran sat up and put her glasses on. "More troubles!" shouted her, as she jumped out of her bed, " find the others!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Oogami's sister was sitting face to face with Yoneda inside Yoneda's office.

"Are there...any possibilities to find _them_?"

Yoneda nodded to say 'yes'. "But, it will be difficult," he reminded.

Oogami's sister's tears started to fall down.

_To Be Continued..._

Author's notes :

Well, we're getting closer to the climax...Read and see!


	8. One, two, three, four,Bang!

Disclaimers : I don't own Sakura Taisen...

The eighth chapter is up now...please read, enjoy, and review! Thanks to Stelok and Aloysia-Sakura-fan for their reviews...

* * *

1953

Everything for the wedding ceremony and celebration were ready, in very excellent conditions.

Since Taro and Edelweiss were both members of _Teigeki Big Family_, there were so many _aunts_ and _cousins_ to help their parents to manage the marriage.

Iris, Kouran, and Orihime helped the decorations section, when Reni and Sumire helped to arrange the party, and Kanna, of course, helped with the food.

All Hanagumi members' children, who were all girls, (except Taro, of course), were helping as well. Suiren would be the maid of honor, when Kanna's daughter and Sumire's daughter would be the masters of ceremony (or we'll better say as _mistresses_ of ceremony). Tanpopo, Kouran's daughter, and Iris' daughter would welcome the guests. Since Orihime's daughter played piano well, and Reni's daughter did well with her violin, they would be the _mini-orchestra_. Kayama and Kaede's children, their sons and their daughter, were participating as well.

As the wedding day got closer, everybody were getting more and more nervous. But, none of them were as nervous as the very old Yoneda.

The old man walked back and forth along Teigeki's corridors and reminded everyone that the marriage were getting so close. He was so concern about both the bride and the bridegroom, and asked them about their feelings whenever he met one of them.

"I think Grandpa Yoneda is becoming mad-crazy," said Tanpopo to Sakura, once in a lovely evening, when they were having tea and cakes at Teigeki's balcony, as refreshments after a day of tiring works.

Sakura nodded as she smiled slightly to her daughter. "You know, Tanpopo," said her, "he's always becoming like that when we're going to hold a marriage."

* * *

1928

It was so early in the morning, so, everybody might think that there wasn't any _awaken_ people inside the Imperial Theatre. No one had ever imagined, a dangerous conspiration was running inside the huge splendor building.

Kouran adjusted the communicator carefully to get the right signal, when others waited patiently and worriedly. All of them threw relieved smiles when, finally, they got the right line.

_"Morning report from the shipman,"_ said a faraway voice.

"Javert is on duty, Sir," replied Kouran.

_"Good. Now, listen. I want to tell you that I'm safe with our director and Madame Thenardier."_

"That's good," said Kouran, as she threw her glance at her friends, "when will you leave?"

_"We're waiting for the next ship to Paris. Don't forget to tell Monsieur Thenardier that her homeland is so good to stay at."_

"She's next to me," exclaimed Kouran.

_"You seem to be under pressure. What's on?"_

Kouran sighed. "We're surely under pressure," she whispered with a heavy voice, "even Fanthine".

_"Me too."_

"Swear upon your honor that you wouldn't ever tell our director and Madame Thenardier about it," said Kouran slowly.

_"Upon my life and honor."_

Kouran turned the communicator off as she knew that the conversation had come to an end. Slowly but surely, she turned to her waiting friends. "The climax is running towards us," she reported.

Everybody sighed as they smiled and reached their glasses for some toast.

They didn't realize, there was someone _outside_ the door.

'I should tell Yoneda-san and also the bride's family then,' she thought.

That rather young woman left quickly but quietly, heading towards Yoneda's office.

* * *

"Whoaa!!! Another _useless_ report! When will I get rid of all of this?" moaned Sumire as she reached her tea cup."I still have a lot of things to do," she muttered,"I must take a bath, have a massage, go shopping, phone my darling there, visit my friends to know that..."

"Kanzaki Sumire! Come out! You're under arrest!"

Sumire freezed for a while, as her usually fast mind stopped working in sudden.

Her door was broken just in seconds, and, some strong policemen were surrounding her. She couldn't do anything when they brought her with them.

* * *

Breakfast had just finished, and all _remaining_ Hanagumi members were preparing for their daily exercise, when they heard the voice of sirens.

"Police come! Police come!" shouted the panicked Iris.

Maria put her index finger on her lips. "Stay calm, Iris," she reminded.

"Maria Tachibana, Ri Kouran, Leni Milchstrasse, Kirishima Kanna, Soletta Orihime, and Iris Chateaubriand. You're under arrest for kidnapping a woman!"

Time stopped for a while for them.

* * *

"Yoneda-shihainin! What have I done?" screamed the stressed-out Kaede.

"Many things," answered Yoneda as he drank more liquor from his bottle. "Don't you think it's wrong to help those lovers to escape?"

Kaede stopped kicking and screaming. "So...you've known it," she said hopelessly.

* * *

The sky was bright with orange accent, and, at the same time, dark with purple accent.

Oogami was looking thoughtfully at the sky, as he gently rubbed Sakura's hand.

"Beautiful," commented Sakura, almost whispering.

"Like you," replied Oogami.

"Me? Are you stupid?" laughed Sakura.

"I'm stupid," answered Oogami as he closed his eyes, "stupid with love."

Sakura smiled as she turned to Oogami. "Others might think that I'm stupid," she said. She lied against Oogami.

"We can go back if you want, Sakura. I don't want you to feel guilty about this. After all, I don't want to urge you."

Sakura shook her head as she closed her eyes.

"Open your eyes! You're surrounded by police!"

Both of them opened their eyes, just to realize that there were police everywhere.

"Oogami Ichirou! You're arrested for running a girl away!"

Sakura screamed when they pulled her and set her apart from Ichirou. Her hysteric tears filled her eyes and face, as one of the policemen lifted her and pushed her into a car.

_To be continued..._

Author's notes :

Velvet Road had been pathed and was ready to be mapped...so...let's wait...


	9. Finale

  
  
Disclaimers : I don't own Sakura Taisen...  
  
This is the final chapter...I won't say much words about it. Thanks a lot to Stelok and Ice Spectre for their reviews, and thanks to Leni Milchstrasse for her answer...Please R&R...  
  
1953  
  
The wedding day finally had come.  
  
The way from The Imperial Theatre to Ueno Park was full of standing people. They wore their nice clothes, and many of them brought flowers in their hands. Others brought big official photographs of Edelweiss, which had been signed by Edelweiss herself.  
  
"Will she be beautiful like usual?" asked a curious young lady to her mother.  
  
The mother smiled as she gazed at her daughter. "Happy women will surely try to look their best in their marriage," she answered.  
  
"But...is she really happy?" asked the daughter back.  
  
Her mother smiled again as she realized how curious her daughter was. "I didn't say that she will certainly look her best, right?" she said.  
  
The daughter turned red as she knew that she couldn't win from her mother.  
  
"You want to say you envy her, don't you?" asked the mother again.  
  
The young lady nodded.  
  
"Each person carries his or her own problems and joy," explained the wise mother.  
  
"So?"  
  
"So? My honey, that means you'll someday find your happiness."

* * *

1928  
  
"Get in, both of you! Quick!"  
  
The cell's narrow door was blamed behind them as they were pushed into the extremely dark room.  
  
"Who are you?!!!" asked the frightened but still aware Maria.  
  
"We won't harm you, Maria-kun."  
  
Maria's face turned green, and secret tears started to appear on her face. "No need to tell me who you are," replied her hopelessly.  
  
"So...we've failed?" asked the unbelieving Kouran who was sitting at one of that room's corner.  
  
No one answered.  
  
"We can escape! Come on, guys, we can escape!" shouted the dissapointed Kanna.  
  
"We can't," whispered Leni, "we arrived here with eyes closed, and I'm sure Taichou and Kayama-san too."  
  
Silence filled the huge but frightening room.

* * *

"We've arrived, Miss," said one of the policemen.  
  
Sakura didn't say anything.  
  
Another policeman opened the door for her, but she didn't seem to get out or even moved from her sitting position.  
  
The policewoman beside her looked at her with a great sympathy. Even with red eyes, pale cheeks, and empty expression, Sakura was still beautiful. "You'll better get out and meet your mother, Miss Shinguji. You can explain to her what happened, and ask her to set Liutenant Oogami free," advised her.  
  
Half-hypnotized by that words, Sakura sighed and, slowly, got out of that car.  
  
"I'll show you the way back to your convenient life," offered the head-policeman.  
  
"Whatever, but," said Sakura as she gazed angrily to the rather young man, "you'll be leading me to death."  
  
All of the policemen and the policewoman looked at each other, hardly believed that a soft woman such as Sakura could say such threatening statement.  
  
"You'll soon forget it, Sakura," said Yoneda, who, no one realized, had stood near to them.  
  
Sakura didn't replied. Without saying anything to or just looking back at the police team, she entered the big hotel.  
  
"She don't know where this way will lead her," whispered Yoneda, as he signaled the policemen and policewoman to go.

* * *

"Wake up, all you bandits! It's time for court!"  
  
Maria, Reni, Oogami, and Kayama jumped out, while Kanna and Kouran were still sleeping like babies, hug each other to keep warm.  
  
The head-guard pointed his flashlight to each of them. "Give me the water," ordered him to his man.  
  
The young policeman handed his superior a bottle of iced water.  
  
The older man received it coldly, then, walked towards Kanna and Kouran. "Here you are!" shouted him as he poured that cold water on the girls' faces.  
  
Kanna and Kouran screamed as the sat up and looked at the middle-aged man with a great hatred.  
  
"Tie their hands. They're high-class crimes," commanded the head-guard as he left them behind.

* * *

Sumire, Iris, Orihime, and Kaede said nothing as the make-up artist put more colors on their faces.  
  
Wakana was checking the bride and bridemaids dresses. "All right," said her, satisfied with all the dresses, traditional ones and modern ones.  
  
The hair stylist, who was arranging Sakura's hair, smiled cheerfully as she said, "I guess this marriage will be Teito's biggest event for this month."  
  
Sakura didn't response at all, as she had spent all her tears before. The other girls didn't either, as they didn't know what to do.

* * *

"We've arrived! Quick, come out!" shouted the lead-guard.  
  
"Finally! They pack us here as if we're sardines!" shouted the relieved Kanna.  
  
"Kouran! You get out first! You're the nearest person to the door, aren't you?" asked Kayama impatiently.  
  
"Stay calm, Kayama-san! The door hadn't been opened yet!" reminded Leni.  
  
"I know, but...can you imagine that both Kanna and Maria are sitting upon me?" asked Kayama, hardly breathing.  
  
Oogami took a deep breath. "I must apologize for all," he said to his friends.  
  
"You have no time to apologize," said a familiar person as he opened the door.  
  
"Y...Yoneda-shihainin?!!!"  
  
"Maria, Kouran, Kanna, and Leni. Hurry up! The dresses are in your rooms. Oogami, your suit is in your room, as well as your sister. Kayama, you can change in my room. Quick!"

* * *

"The man you'll be married with," promoted Wakana, "is very nice."  
  
Sakura sighed and concentrate at the buildings they were passing on their way to Ueno Park.  
  
"He's well educated, and he has ever studied overseas."  
  
Sakura took a rather deep breath, barely interested in what her mother was talking about.  
  
"His family is rather wealthy so you don't need to be afraid of your life in the future. That wedding dress is the guarantee of their promise to give you a queen-like live."  
  
Sakura took a deeper breath.  
  
"You won't regret your decision," said Wakana again.  
  
Sakura turned to her mother. "Decision?" asked her bitterly, as the wedding car stopped in front of Ueno Park's gate.  
  
"I have no time to answer, my daughter. Get out! Your man is waiting for you!"

* * *

"Your soon-to-be wife is a beautiful woman," exclaimed Oogami's sister.  
  
Oogami kept looking at his shoes, the thing he'd been doing since they arrived at Ueno Park.  
  
"She's rather traditional but not old-fashioned," continued the elder woman.  
  
The shoes still seemed more interesting for Oogami than what her sister was saying.  
  
"She has a good career so she can help you a lot. She won't be such an opportunist who only knows how to spend money without knowing how to produce it."  
  
Oogami still looking at his shoes. Why must in this place? One of our meaningful place? said him to himself.  
  
"Alright, alright, brother. Now, forget those shoes. Your woman is on her way to you!"

* * *

"Sou desu ka!" whispered the extremely surprised Sumire.  
  
Kanna didn't say anything since she was too shocked to speak.  
  
Yoneda nodded at both of them. "Since I've made such a good plan to make their special day much more unforgetable, please host this event well," asked him.  
  
"So, what will the rest do?" asked Kayama.  
  
"Kayama, you're the best man. Maria, you're the maid of honor. Remember to act like you're not your own selves, and wear your masks since this party takes masquerade as its theme. Kaede, Kouran, Iris, and Leni, would you please greet the guests for us? Give your loveliest smile."  
  
"Ryoukai!"shouted them in unison.

* * *

Every steps to the meeting point took much part of Sakura's heart.  
  
Forgive me, Ichirou. My heart is yours forever.  
  
She stopped for a while, as she realized that it was the place where she and Ichirou first met. Memories of the past began to attack her awful mind.  
  
"Go on," whispered the maid of honor lightly but clearly.  
  
She froze as she saw the man who was waiting for her.

* * *

Oogami closed his eyes and sighed as he heard some shivering, doubtful, and rather painful steps.  
  
You're the only love I have, Sakura.  
  
He turned to the bride, and, his face turned both green and red.  
  
"S...Sakura?"  
  
"Is that you, Ichirou?"  
  
They fell in a meaningfull embrace.  
  
Yoneda, Wakana, and Oogami's sister threw tricky glances at each other, while Maria and Kayama removed their masks and others appeared and clapped.  
  
It took nearly five minutes until Oogami and Sakura stopped embracing each other. They turned, just to see the people they loved and who loved them around them.  
  
Ueno Park was nearly the same with what it used to be when they first met. With its flowers, beautiful and calming, and with its pleasant atmosphere. There, Shinguji Sakura was officially proclaimed as Oogami Ichirou's wife, and Oogami Ichirou was officialy proclaimed as Shinguji Sakura's husband. No family ties were broken at the ceremony, but, there, a new family tie was created.  
  
It took not so long for them to wait until they got their first son, Taro, and even not five minutes to get the second child and first daughter, Tanpopo. Four years after the twins' birth, they got their last child and last daughter, Suiren. Many things had happened as they walked through their life path. The path that continued two paths, just like what Sumire and Kanna said as the opening for the celebration at Ueno Park. But, with their strong love, and also supports from the people they loved, they could pass all the difficulties and increase love and respect at each other.

* * *

1953  
  
The party had been over, and the newlyweds were ready for their special night.  
  
"Good luck for both of you!" whispered Sakura as she came out of the newlyweds' room.  
  
Suddenly, she felt Taro's hand on her shoulder.  
  
"What's up?" asked her surprisedly.  
  
"We have something for you," explained Taro as he gave his mother a thick envelope.  
  
"Who are 'we'?" asked Sakura curiously.  
  
"Everybody in Teikoku Kagekidan," answered Taro.  
  
"What is this?"  
  
"You'll know it after you open it," said Taro as he closed his door quickly, followed by Edelweiss' soft giggle.  
  
Still confused, Sakura went back to her bedroom, where Oogami had been waiting for her.  
  
"What's that, Sakura?" asked the interested Oogami.  
  
"I don't know. Taro gave it to me. He said that it's from everybody in Teikoku Kagekidan."  
  
"Let's see."  
  
"W...what is this?"  
  
"Looks like a map, a car key, and some hotel guides."  
  
"Hey! This is the letter!"  
  
"What they say there?"  
  
"Happy honeymoon. Enjoy yourselves. This is the path of your Velvet Road."  
  
"Velvet Road?"  
  
"A road I used to tell the children everynight when they were small. It's the road where the princess and the prince, whose love was against what their kingdoms want, found the real meaning of love and friendship, and finally found their eternal happiness."  
  
"Sakura?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"I love you."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
They share another passionate kiss.  
  
**THE END**  
  
Author's notes :  
  
It's over! After one year, Velvet Road finally has been over! Special thanks to my readers and my reviewers. You've encouraged me to write and write again and finish this story. Keep enjoying, and keep remembering the Velvet Road... 


End file.
